Imagine... Chicago 100 years ago.
The city played host to the world for the 1893 Columbian Exposition,
and the world was stunned by the impressiveness and innovation of Chicago and
its residents. The South, West and North Sides featured wide boulevards with
stately homes, other homes affordable for people no matter their income, and beautiful
parks and lakefront beaches accessible to all. Chicago still has beautiful parks
and lakeshore, but something happened to the neighborhoods...

Recently, the North Side and parts of the West and South
Sides closest to the Loop have been regentrifying, but abandoned
buildings and vacant lots still plague large portions of the South Side
and West Side. There are an estimated 70,000-80,000 vacant lots in the City of Chicago,
and the number of abandoned buildings numbers well into the thousands.
Abandoned buildings are particularly troubling as they are magnets for
drug use and squatters, and become major fire risks. If we are to win the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, then I propose that we
transform Chicago into a world-class host city by transforming these abandoned
buildings and vacant lots into something the neighborhood can be proud
of – without demonizing property owners or
displacing honest, hard-working residents.

The Chicago Abandoned Lot Project is a community project
whose purpose is to transform
blighted properties in Chicago into something to be proud of by the surrounding
neighborhood and everyone that cares about this great city. These troubled
properties feature abandoned buildings or vacant lots that are an eyesore at
best and dangerous to the community at worst. Far too often, these properties
sit neglected for years either because of unclear ownership, court battles and
liens, or property owners that are content with the properties as they are,
perhaps waiting until they increase in value or simply because of inattention.
The specific goal of this project is to transform 5 troubled properties into
something the community can be proud of by March 22, 2007. Upon completion of
the project, the project will be documented and what we have learned will be
shared here so that it can be replicated elsewhere around Chicago, Illinois, the
United States, and throughout the world.

Highest and Best Use –
new possibilities for community development

Transformation into a safe place

Many vacant lots are filled with
broken bottles, garbage, weeds and broken trees, and they
simply need to be
cleaned up for a start so they are no longer dangerous
to neighborhood residents and an eyesore to all

Many vacant buildings first need to
be boarded up or torn down completely as fire
damage and broken glass are dangerous for neighborhood
residents and often turn into crack houses; call (312)
744-6140 to request the City of Chicago to board up an
abandoned building in your neighborhood

Transformation of troubled properties into a
commercial
business– many
communities suffer from a lack of such neighborhood staples as
grocery stores, salons, restaurants serving good quality food,
all of which can bring jobs to the area and profitability to
local proprietors or regional/national chains

Temporarily transform abandoned buildings by
painting boarded up windows the color of the facade, or
perhaps something artistic by local artists

Temporarily transform vacant lots into
vegetable farms (leased or rented) possibly in conjunction
with Ken Dunn of
Resource Center
Chicago, or into community gardens

One of the aims of the Chicago Abandoned Lot Project
is to determine the status of each troubled property. Who owns it? The
City of Chicago, a private owner, a bank, or is ownership unclear?
Whoever owns it, what is their plan for the property? Warehouse it for
future use, perhaps waiting for land value to increase? Perhaps they
have no plan at all, or the property might be caught up in a court
battle that could last for years. Perhaps there is a great plan in place
for the property and things are in process (planning, financing,
construction, etc.) The Chicago Abandoned Lot Project aims to
create a plan of transformation when one does not exist, and to be in
harmony with those that do. We do not want to recreate the wheel.

Next Steps

Identify additional troubled properties
– the initial goal is a total of 50, with 5
ultimately transformed by March 22, 2007

Determine the status of each property

Determine the Highest and Best Use of each property

Create a Plan of Transformation for each property

Execute each plan

Evaluate lessons learned from each property

Document and improve the process

Replicate globally through an army of others dedicated to
the idea of world harmony